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The Unlikely Wife
Debra Ullrick
A Woman In Pants! The arrival of Michael Bowen’s bride, married sight unseen by proxy, sends the rancher reeling. With her trousers, cowboy hat and rifle, she looks like a female outlaw—not the genteel lady he corresponded with for months. He’s been hoodwinked into marriage with the wrong woman! Selina Farleigh Bowen loved Michael’s letters, even if she couldn’t read them herself.A friend read them to her, and wrote her replies—but apparently that “friend” left things out, like Michael’s dream of a wife who was nothing like her. Selina won’t change who she is, not even for the man she loves. Yet time might show Michael the true value of his unlikely wife.
A woman in pants!
The arrival of Michael Bowen’s bride, married sight unseen by proxy, sends the rancher reeling. With her trousers, cowboy hat and rifle, she looks like a female outlaw—not the genteel lady he corresponded with for months. He’s been hoodwinked into marriage with the wrong woman!
Selina Farleigh Bowen loved Michael’s letters, even if she couldn’t read them herself. A friend read them to her, and wrote her replies—but apparently that “friend” left things out, like Michael’s dream of a wife who was nothing like her. Selina won’t change who she is, not even for the man she loves. Yet time might show Michael the true value of his unlikely wife.
“What do we do now?” Selina asked.
Her whisper, broken by tears, tugged at his heart. He hated seeing a woman cry, no matter how angry he was.
What did they do now?
He folded the letter from her—supposedly from her—that he’d been reading, stacked it on top of the rest and tied the string around them. What he wanted to do was burn them along with his marriage certificate.
The way he saw it, they had no other choice. Vows had been spoken. The Bible made it clear about the wrongness of breaking vows. Like it or not, he and Selina were legally married. There was only one answer to that question. “I guess we head home.”
Her gaze flew up to his and the color drained from her face.
Michael understood exactly how she felt. But they had no other choice. He hoisted his body off the log and offered Selina a helping hand up. “We made our vows before God and we need to honor those vows. Let’s go home.”
DEBRA ULLRICK
is an award-winning author who is happily married to her husband of thirty-six years. For more than twenty-five years, she and her husband and their only daughter lived and worked on cattle ranches in the Colorado Mountains. The last ranch Debra lived on was also where a famous movie star and her screenwriter husband chose to purchase property. She now lives in the flatlands where she’s dealing with cultural whiplash. Debra loves animals, classic cars, mud-bog racing and monster trucks. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, drawing Western art, feeding wild birds, watching Jane Austen movies, COPS, or Castle.
Debra loves hearing from her readers. You can contact her through her website, www.debraullrick.com.
The Unlikely Wife
Debra Ullrick
www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
Dear Reader,
Welcome to Love Inspired!
2012 is a very special year for us. It marks the fifteenth anniversary of Love Inspired Books. Hard to believe that fifteen years ago, we first began publishing our warm and wonderful inspirational romances.
Back in 1997, we offered readers three books a month. Since then we’ve expanded quite a bit! In addition to the heartwarming contemporary romances of Love Inspired, we have the exciting romantic suspenses of Love Inspired Suspense, and the adventurous historical romances of Love Inspired Historical. Whatever your reading preference, we’ve got fourteen books a month for you to choose from now!
Throughout the year we’ll be celebrating in several different ways. Look for books by bestselling authors who’ve been writing for us since the beginning, stories by brand-new authors you won’t want to miss, special miniseries in all three lines, reissues of top authors, and much, much more.
This is our way of thanking you for reading Love Inspired books. We know our uplifting stories of hope, faith and love touch your hearts as much as they touch ours.
Join us in celebrating fifteen amazing years of inspirational romance!
Blessings,
Melissa Endlich and Tina James
Senior Editors of Love Inspired Books
This book is dedicated to my dear sister Marlene Baylor.
Every time I’ve needed a friend, or a listening ear, or encouragement, or needed lifting up, you’ve been there for me. Thank you so much! You’ll never know how much that means to me. How much YOU mean to me. I luv ya high as the sky, Marlene.
God bless you.
* * *
For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.
—1 Samuel 16–7
Contents
Chapter One (#u6627a667-2a2e-5b1b-94f3-280f3efb7323)
Chapter Two (#uea8cf210-bf20-5005-b8aa-882710c3f2b7)
Chapter Three (#u1727a0ce-4790-5dbe-a48a-1236d9331a5b)
Chapter Four (#u99e1d9a4-d38a-59b1-ab39-66b31743fac2)
Chapter Five (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Six (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eight (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Nine (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Ten (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Eleven (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Twelve (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Thirteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fourteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Fifteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Sixteen (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter Seventeen (#litres_trial_promo)
Dear Reader (#litres_trial_promo)
Questions for Discussion (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter One
Paradise Haven, Idaho Territory
1885
This has to be a nightmare.
Standing in front of Michael Bowen at Paradise Haven’s train station was the woman who claimed to be his wife. His eyes traveled up and down the length of her. Instead of a dress, she wore a red scarf draped around her neck, a black cowboy hat with a stampede string, black cowboy boots and brown loose-fitting trousers. In her hands she held a Long Tom black powder rifle.
A rifle? The woman was holding a rifle. No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t pull his gaze away from the weapon that was nearly as long as she was tall.
Michael bore down on his teeth until he thought his jaw would snap. Even with her heart-shaped face, stunning smile and beautiful brown eyes, the person standing before him looked more like a female outlaw on a wanted poster than the genteel lady he had been corresponding with for the past five months. The woman he had fallen deeply and passionately in love with. The woman he had legally married sight unseen.
This woman was nothing like what he’d expected. Nothing. There had to be some mistake. There just had to be.
Suddenly, she lunged toward him and threw her arms around his neck. He stiffened and struggled to draw in even the smallest amount of air because she squeezed him so tightly. Dear God, have mercy on me.
“Oh, Michael! It’s so nice to finally meet ya.” Selina Farleigh Bowen pulled back and stared into her new husband’s face. She knew Michael would be handsome—no one who wrote letters that sweet could not be. But even if he were uglier than a Kentucky toad, she’d still love him.
She took a second to study his face. Jaw, nice and square. Nose, straight. Eyes, breathtaking and smiling, the color of a sapphire necklace her ma once had when days were better. Lips, bow shaped. The man was so handsome. And he was all hers. “I just can’t believe I’m finally here.”
Michael stared down at her with wide eyes.
Her husband wasn’t smiling, and he looked like he’d just swallowed a giant cricket. Her joy evaporated.
She took a step back and dipped her head sideways, wondering if she’d done something wrong or if he was disappointed in her looks. Maybe she shouldn’t have grabbed him and hugged him like she had. After all, that was a mighty bold thing to do, but she couldn’t help herself. She’d waited five long months for this day.
Still, maybe her boldness had upset him. She reckoned she’d better apologize. “I’m sorry, Michael. I oughta not tossed my arms about you like that. Forgive me iffen that was outta line.”
He continued to stare, saying nothing.
“Bear got your tongue or somethin’?”
“You—you can’t be Selina.”
Whoa. She wasn’t expecting that. “What do ya mean I can’t be Selina? Of course I’m Selina.”
He tugged his gray cowboy hat off his head and ran the back of his hand over his sweaty forehead, then settled the hat back into place. “You can’t be. The Selina who wrote me was…” His eyelids lowered to the wood planks under his feet, but Selina still caught sight of the hurt in his eyes.
Quicksand plopped into her belly. “Michael.” She waited until he looked at her. His expression was blank. “You said the Selina who wrote you was… Was what, Michael?”
“She was…”
She was what?
The longer he stood there not saying anything the more skittish her insides got. “Tell me, Michael. She was… I mean, I was what?”
“Well, will you look at her? That’s repulsive.” Disgust oozed from a woman’s voice as she passed by them.
Selina swung her attention to two young women standing about five yards away with their fancy dresses and matching hats with long feathers sticking out of them.
“Are you sure it’s a she? Looks more like a man to me.”
Selina caught sight of their faces.
They looked her up and down with a snarl on their faces. Jumpin’ crickets. Did those women have their corsets in a twist or what?
“I can’t believe she would be seen in public like that.”
Selina had dealt with their type all her life. People who thought they were better than her just because they had money and could afford fancy clothes.
Selina narrowed her eyes, pursed her lips and gave them her meanest stare while patting her rifle.
Their eyes widened. They linked arms and scurried off like a herd of scared mice stuck in a shack filled with cats. Worked every time.
Selina turned back to Michael.
His eyes followed the women until they disappeared around the train depot building. She wondered what was going through his mind. “Michael, would you mind iffen we found someplace over yonder so we can talk? I need you to tell me what was in them letters.”
“What do you mean you need me to tell you what was in the letters? You wrote them.” A frown pulled at his face. “What’s going on here, Selina?” His voice was harsh and loud enough that people stopped what they were doing to stare at them.
“Whoa.” She held up her hand to ward off the roughness of his words. “Just back up your horses, cowboy, and I’ll explain everything. But not here. Come on.” She tugged on his shirt sleeve. He balked like a stubborn mule, and she had to practically drag him all the way to the edge of the trees out of the earshot of others.
She sat down on a log and hoped Michael would do the same, but he just stood there, towering over her.
“Won’t you please sit a spell? I’ll have a crick in my neck iffen I have to keep lookin’ up at you like this.”
He lowered his backside onto the log but as far to the other end as possible.
He removed his hat and worked the brim of it into a curl.
Such a waste of a mighty fine hat.
Why, Pa would skin her and her brothers alive if one of them ever treated a hat like that. But she wasn’t here to talk about that. “Michael, I don’t know what the problem is, but I want you to know that I told Aimee to tell you that I had no book learnin’ and that I couldn’t read nor write because I had to help my pa raise the youngins after my ma took sick and died.”
“What do you mean you can’t read or write?” His shocked face made her want to find a rock to crawl under. She dropped her head in shame. “And who’s Aimee?” he asked.
“You don’t know?”
“No. Why should I?”
